Breaking History

It catches her off-guard at first to see what she thinks is the familiar visage of her former comrade but as she nears closer she sees that, while still taller than her, his stature is not yet like that of Kyoujurou’s. She had always been aware of the fact that he had a sibling, but they had never met personally. Kyoujurou, however, always made it a point to bring him up fairly often and speak fondly of him whenever the topic was brought up. It’s because of this that Shinobu is able to approach with some familiarity.

A hand reaches forward, gently planted on his right shoulder and only lets go once he’s given her his full attention. “You…are Rengoku-san’s younger brother, correct?” After asking her own question does she speak again before he has a chance to answer. “He spoke often of you. The family resemblance seems to be very strong…so much that I almost mistook you for him.”

@lonescarred​ / s.c.

Senjurou wasn’t proud of the slight jump he did when he felt the sudden hand. Gentle as it may have been, the initial thought of being grabbed by a stranger in this city was a reasonable enough thing to be startled about, he thought.

But all they did was grab his shoulder, and even as he turned they didn’t do much else—in fact, they only undid the grabbing. Did he do something wrong, then? He didn’t recognize her... but he saw the butterfly pin. And then she mentioned his brother, and his eyes lit up some.

“I—Yes... you know my brother?”

“You must be a demon slayer then, right? A pillar?”

He suspected she might be a pillar from the pin in her hair. The others had been described in words to him before, so although he’s never seen Shinobu in person, he can make an educated guess... and look foolish if he was wrong, but he didn’t think he was.

He wondered if his brother knew she was here? Should he take her to him? What if she needs something important?

So he did know. He did know that Rui was a demon, and the poor boy’s state was just getting worse with each passing second. Rui gave another sigh.

“You shouldn’t, I guess.”

There was no logical reason that this boy should believe him. There was no reason to assume that a demon – a Lower Moon, no less, even though that no longer mattered – was telling any human (or, really, even other lesser demons) the truth at any moment. Especially when it came to being eaten.

“Because you’re right, I’m a demon.”

“But wouldn’t I have already started eating you by now if I wanted to? It’s not like you didn’t give me a reason.” Again, not particularly the most convincing sentence in the world; Rui wasn’t exactly well-known for his sentimentality and empathy. The more he said the less emotion there seemed to be to his voice, and eventually he just gave Senjurou a once-over before raising his shoulders in a shrug. “–and you aren’t my type.”

Rui glanced from one side to the other. No one else was around. He really could have just feasted, if he’d wanted to. The thought… made him sick, mulling it over. He shoved it from his mind.

“Aren’t you cold? It’s late. Why aren’t you at home, boy?” A genuine question, much as it still didn’t sound like one.

For some reason, hearing Rui say that he shouldn’t believe him only made him more worried, even though that’s exactly what he already did do. Didn’t do? He didn’t believe him, is the point.

He took one cautious half step back, testing the waters so to speak, to see if the demon would take one forward. His eyes never left Rui; he didn’t want to even give a quick glance to the side just in case... in case... he’s not sure. It’s not like he’d be able to see anything happen. He’s never gone up against an actual demon.

For all the training he tried to do, he felt very unprepared now, which only made him think all the more that his blade was right in not changing colour.

He also did spare the quick glance, past Rui and towards the rows of housing, where he thought his would be.

“I... I don’t know. I don’t know what you mean.”

He was referring to Rui’s point about already eating him, and the type comment. He didn’t realize demons had a type. Moreover, it scared him that some demons would think that he was their type.

“I was on my way home.” Senjurou didn’t want to admit he’d gotten lost (or cold). He had absolutely no experience getting around a city like this.

      █ ✶ He almost wanted to cry.

     Were it not for his stubbornness and tenacity, the former Flame Pillar is certain he would have succumbed to his tears long ago. However, knowing of his duty and just of what he means to his own kin, Kyoujurou somehow keeps his composure despite the shock.

      ❝ … Senjurou… ❞ his tone and expression are gentle, the man’s coral optics looking upon the smaller figure with fondness. This is probably the only person he did not wish to see within this city… Yet in the same breath, this is someone whom he wishes to protect with every fiber of his being, should he be able to.

      ❝ … You’re still the same as I remember. ❞

Senjurou, much as he might wish he could have the same resolve as his brother, keep his composure in the face of strong emotion... he couldn’t, not now. Though he didn’t sob, he still began to cry, while still trying to keep a composed look on his face.

Part of him worried it was fake, a lie, a demon playing tricks on him. But most of him wanted to believe this was real, and didn’t care.

“I... made you one...” he said, holding out the Kyoujurou gingerbread man. He noticed now that his was broken... and quickly tried to hide that fact by covering the break with his thumb in his other hand.

“… huh?”

Well, at least they’d managed to equally catch one another off-guard. People didn’t normally look at Rui like that, which meant – was there a chance of this boy being from the same world Rui had been? The boy was looking at Rui like he’d seen a ghost, or probably a demon.

He sighed. Just his luck.

“I wasn’t even. I. – Listen.”

Rui would have clicked his tongue if he’d actually had any words to follow up with that the boy could listen to, but it all escaped him. He wasn’t even what? He’d just been all but threatening the boy for just walking around outside at night. He couldn’t very well claim he hadn’t been about to do anything.

Even if that something had really just been “leave me alone, I don’t want company that’s why I’m walking around by myself so just go”.

So Rui just stared back instead.

Tanjirou probably would have had a much better idea of what to do. He’d tell Rui, “just try your best!” and Rui would go, “well, my best isn’t very good and I have a tendency to break things”. And Tanjirou would… would…

–without a doubt, Rui did not know what to do. He couldn’t even hypothesize.

“O…kay. I… stopped?” But he was going to raise a hand back up to his head to rub at the spot where the broom handle had made impact. His entire forehead was throbbing, and he didn’t exactly want to get smacked again. As he was right now, apparently brooms really hurt. “… you know what I am, don’t you.”

Small talk was probably not the correct choice to use against a broom-wielding maniac well, no, the poor boy looked like he’d pass out if he killed a fly. Uh … uh…

“I’m… not going to eat you?”

All Senjurou could do was listen. What other option was there? Attack, with this broom of his? No, that’s an awful idea. With his fists? Even worse. If there was one thing that Senjurou was completely and totally aware of right now, it’s the fact that he had no options.

This was it. This was how he died.

With his eyes squeezed shut now and tears already welling up, he couldn’t even watch to see what Rui was doing. He expected at any moment now for something to happen. And while something did happen, it wasn’t what he thought would.

The demon just... spoke to him. That’s it. Asked him a question. Senjurou peeked one eye open now; the demon hadn’t moved either.

“H... huh..?”

He didn’t want to answer wrong, but just when his mouth began to open to speak up, Rui spoke again instead. And confirmed that no, being told ‘I’m not going to eat you’ by something known for eating people was not good for Senjurou’s psyche right now.

“Wh... why should I believe you?!”

He was shaking, just a little bit, the entirety of his expectation for how this encounter was going to go flipped on its head in just a couple words. He could have run, maybe, but that’s not what he wanted to do. That’s not what his brother would have done.

Senjurou stood close to the window, watching his gingerbread cookies bake before his eyes. Two of them, one much smaller than the other: a Senjurou cookie, and a Kyoujurou cookie, side by side. Senjurou did his best designing them, but he found the digital screens a little tricky to use.

When they were done and the tray popped out with the finished and cooled-down-enough cookies, Senjurou gingerly took them in his hands, looking down at them with a small smile. Close enough, he thought.

He left the table behind and, still looking down at the cookies in his hand, started to walk off in the direction he knew the soup pot was in. Both a blessing and a curse that he wasn’t watching where he was going, as after some distance he walked straight into the back of someone else.

He stumbled back and accidentally broke the right arm off of his Senjurou cookie. Whether it was from the initial bump or him tightening his grip on reflex after, he couldn’t tell.

Senjurou finally looked up now, as the person was turning around... and if the hair didn’t make it obvious (it did—it was enough to make Senjurou freeze in disbelief on its own) then seeing Kyoujurou’s face when he finally turned sealed the deal.

          @lonescarred​.

Rui hadn’t really been to Fibonacci before. There had been no reason to, and there was still no reason to, really, unless “should probably go further than just Cotes and trying to avoid Golden” counted as a valid reason, which was up for debate.

It was hard to explore an entire city when you were under the time constraint of being able to find safety before sunrise or else just die.

Regardless, Rui was exploring Fibonacci, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it yet.

Maybe if he’d had his threads in any better capacity than he did – it could be fun, couldn’t it, to walk himself over any part of the ward, given its variances? Instead, though, he had nothing; nothing but the sense of being wildly out of place in this ward. At least Cotes had some level of familiarity – a sense of design that felt like home.

He doubted he’d come back.

He hadn’t made it much further than where he assumed the majority of those grabbed from other places, like he had, must live; there were too many rows of houses. He didn’t want to bother with the rest of the ward, now that he was here; it felt too uncomfortable.

Rui turned a corner to another row of houses.

          –Thwack!

Something very solid came crashing down against his head with too much force to have been an accident.

He stumbled backwards, a hand raising up instinctively to rub at the impact point on his forehead. Ouch. Only a few things had made him expressly aware of how weak he was here, and apparently blunt force trauma was something else he could add to that list.

“Watch it,” he snapped, turning his attention to whoever his assailant had –

          – a boy?

Rui tilted his head. Didn’t look like much.

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous at night for such a frail-looking child?”

As if that same frail-looking child hadn’t just brought a … broom?… down on Rui’s head with enough force to send him tottering back. As if Rui wasn’t an even frailer-looking child himself.

Senjurou had been clutching tight to his broom since he arrived; it was the only piece of home he had right now, and he did not want to lose that too. This place was strange, far from recognizable, the only sense of familiarity coming from the language people seemed to speak.

And, regrettably, he’d found himself outside past dark, having wandered the city (looking for someone, anyone he might know) for too long. This could be bad, very very bad.

That would explain why he was so on edge. And why, when he was startled by someone rounding a corner at the same time as him, his first instinct was to... bring his trusty broom down on their head as if it were a weapon of any worth. He immediately felt bad, shutting his eyes tight as the loud crack! rang out.

“I’m sorry!” he said, before he even got a proper look at who he’d hit. “I—”

There it was, the proper look.

His words caught in his throat, mouth hung open, realizing he was face to face with a demon. If nothing else, he could tell by the number in his eye—not an upper, but still far beyond his pathetic capabilities.

“S... stop!” he yelled meekly, as if Rui was doing literally anything but standing there. He held the broom out again, handle away from him, like he was going to use it to defend himself. But he already knew he stood no chance.

Okay! Gonna do a starter call now for Senjurou. These won’t be very long (probably) and I’m gonna get to them throughout the week; I’m pretty busy and have other muses too, so please be patient with me! orz